One of Omaha’s historic streets was a crime scene early Sunday morning as a man was shot outside of a bar.
Julius Shields, 37, remains at CHI Creighton in fair condition.
He tells police there were two people in a scuffle at about 1:30 this morning when there was gun fire.
There have been no arrests.
We asked a north Omaha neighborhood leader her response to Sunday morning's shooting near 24th and Lake.
"My response is that there is always more positive than negative,” said Terri Sanders, Fair Deal Village MarketPlace. “I think that you can cite violence anywhere in Omaha right now. It is not centered just in north Omaha."
Sunday morning's shooting happened near the Fair Deal Village MarketPlace.
It opened in December as part of an effort to revitalize north Omaha.
Sanders says there can be a stigma that north Omaha is a crime-ridden neighborhood, she says the progress made, like Fair Deal, is momentum that can't be slowed by crime.
"What we do want to highlight is that north Omaha is a viable place for business,” Sanders said. “North Omaha is a viable place for families. North Omaha is viable, period. It should not be separated by the rest of Omaha. It is Omaha and right now it is the heartbeat of Omaha."
While we did talk with someone in north Omaha who says he doesn't like the vibes, and doesn't feel safe there sometimes, a Central High School student agrees with Sanders.
"I think it's a beautiful and historic part of our city and I also believe that it gets a bad reputation,” said Molly Ashford. “For all the things that happen there that are unfortunate and tragic in a lot of cases, it's a very important part of our city."
The shooting remains an active investigation.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers.
